Missing Heart
by TimeTot1997
Summary: Sequel to Cold Heart. 'The Demon Arc'. Orihime's family has been cursed for four successful generations by a demon who was double-crossed by a descendant of the Inoue clan - until Orihime was born and the sky was blue for the Inoue family. This demon will stop at nothing to ensure that Orihime loses her heart to her fears. Will her family and friends save themselves and Orihime?
1. Prologue

_**A/N:** If you don't like the pairings or the plot, then don't bloody read. Constructive criticism is always welcome. By all means, leave flames. It will give me incentive to write even more :D and as always, leave wonderful comments, like you all do :) _

**_DISCLAIMER:_** _All is owned by Kubo-sensei. All I own is this plot, my characters and that's all._

 _ **WORD COUNT: 1,364**_

 _ **PAIRINGS:**_ _Ichigo/Orihime. Rukia/Renji. Chad/OC. Uryu/OC. Byakuya/OC._

* * *

 ** _PROLOGUE:_**

 ** _THE DEMON ARC_**

* * *

It had been ten years since the fall of Takeshi, their most dangerous foe since the Arrancar Arc and the Thousand Year Quincy Blood War, but now, those wars seemed like a birthday party compared to the wrath of an enemy they couldn't even begin to comprehend. In 1534 a young girl named Kiku Hajemishi studied Dark Magic out of curiosity, during her studies, she was approached by a cloaked man, who claimed to be her saviour. He taught her the way to wield and control her dark powers; but when she gained more strength and her power went to her head, the cloaked man revealed himself to be a trickster, working for the Soul Society to eliminate any threats and stripped her of her powers, sending her straight to Hell. Kiku, enraged and betrayed, used her knowledge and conserved her strength, awaiting the day when she could strip the powers of stronger individuals and one day claim her rightful place as Queen of All.

The trickster, Yuudai, fled Tokyo and took refuge in Karakura Town, assuming the name of Yuuta Inoue, marrying a local peasant girl, Megumi Takishiro. Once Kiku learned of Yuudai's new identity and that he had started a family, Kiku cursed the Inoue family, for four hundred years, the once pure bloodline led a life of misery and misfortune.

Soon enough, the fifth generation of Inoue was born. Two innocent children, born to a life of abuse and felony, Kiku was ecstatic with the already perfect predicament. But then, the elder brother strayed from her path and created his own, with his younger sister in tow. The demon had to do something. Killing the brother was the perfect opportunity to ensure the sisters misery. Yet it strengthened her! Kiku made sure that the pestilent girl was alone and that she was bullied during the course of her education, but then she made friends with a girl who happened to protect her! So she sent everything that she could think of, but she was thwarted with every attempt. Then that girl got married and had children. Kiku's luck was slowly coming around though. She found if she could manipulate the children, her beloved husband and her friends, then that girl will surely crumble, her heart broken, torn and bleeding. Yet Kiku wanted it disintegrated.

"A missing heart is sweeter than a broken one." Kiku cackled, sitting on her throne in Hell, petting an unfortunate soul's head.

(..)

Orihime sat on the porch-swing, watching her beautiful children run around the backyard.

Masaki, at age 15, was turning into a beautiful young woman with her mother's fast and accentuated development, long spiky orange hair, sharp brown eyes and delicate features with a hard attitude. Masaki acted just like her father, yet she was sweet and compassionate to those who deserved it, like her mother. She was currently chasing her younger brother around with a frog, laughing at how much of a baby he was acting like.

Sora, at age 10, was exactly like his mother, yet looked just like like his deceased uncle, shaggy brown hair to his collarbone, crystal gray eyes and a sweet disposition, he was currently crying, running as fast as he could away from Masaki, blubbering and begging for Masaki to stop.

Orihime turned her head to look at her beautiful twin boys, they had sharp refined features, the same spiky bright orange hair as their father and the same temperament, they scowled just like him too, which Orihime found adorable. Naoki and Taiki being 7 years each, Naoki was older by 5 minutes, they were cheeky, mischievous and they loved playing pranks on their father and siblings, but they adored their mother too much to give her grief.

Orihime giggled to see they already had a wicked plan in motion; they were setting up their toy forklift. The fork arm itself, was spring loaded and if positioned properly, could serve as a slingshot, Naoki set up the slingshot while Taiki scooped dirt from the garden bed, wet it and slapped the mud in place.

"Oh, Daddy~!Taiki fell! He's bleeding! Quick!" Orihime giggled as Taiki fell dramatically and started hollering and crying, clutching his knee in mock-agony. Orihime heard the tell-tale stomps of her overprotective husband running to comfort his youngest child. As soon as Ichigo burst through the glass sliding door, Naoki let go of the spring-loaded arm and a clump of mud sailed through the air and hit it's intended target straight on. Ichigo fell back from the impact and landed on his back, his brown eyes and orange hair were the only thing visible as he lay on the wooden porch, stunned and he mentally assessed the situation.

He heard Orihime's tinkling laughter and his eye twitched. He fell for their tricks. _Again_. _FOR THE EIGTH TIME!_

Ichigo got up and rubbed the mud off his face, making his children laugh as they saw the infamous scowl that he always wore. His children used to fear that scowl, now they laugh at him. He blamed Orihime, ever since she revealed that she once called him _'Scowl-face'_ , he could never wear his scowl with pride again, or to even intimidate anybody with it when his children were around. "You two!" Ichigo growled, pointing at his twin sons.

"Yes, scowl-face~?" Naoki and Taiki teased, laughing.

"It's Dad! Only your mother calls me that name and what is the meaning of throwing mud at an unsuspecting person! Give the person a warning so they can dodge it!" Ichigo boomed, glaring at his two youngest, especially Naoki, who probably planned the whole thing out.

"Nyah-nyah, Daddy. How are we supposed to catch you off guard if we warn you? It wouldn't be any fun!" Taiki spoke up, clutching his little tummy as he laughed harder. When they opened their eyes, Ichigo was gone from his place on the porch. Both Kurosaki twins saw that they had been lifted off the ground, peering into their fathers unpleased face. "Uh-oh." Naoki and Taiki said in unison, they looked at each other and back to their father, gulping.

Ichigo grinned and started to spin around, making his sons laugh and squeal in pure joy. Orihime watched and ran to save Sora from his frog-wielding big sister. "Mum!" Sora cried, jumping into her arms.

Masaki started to laugh and sidled to her mother, cuddling her gently, still holding the slimy frog. It frantically tried to get away from Masaki's iron grip, making frustrated croaking sounds. Masaki let it go and Sora continued to cry into his mothers chest, whimpering.

It wasn't long until the good weather they had, started to turn. The Kurosaki's quickly made their way inside and Ichigo went upstairs to their bathroom, washing his face clean of mud and soil, when he returned, his beautiful children were in the living room, watching a movie silently. He smiled softly, before heading into the kitchen to see Orihime, hard at work. He tip-toed behind her, slid his arms around her waist and kissed her gently. "What's cooking, good-looking?" Ichigo asked in his deep, sultry voice.

Orihime giggled and turned to face her gorgeous husband. "I'm making something foreign tonight, Spaghetti Carbonara, it sounds delicious." Orihime explained, showing him the recipe.

Ichigo nodded gently, quickly skimming through the instructions. "I'm sure it'll taste fantastic since you made it." Just when they were leaning in for a kiss, Ichigo's hospital beeper rang. "Shit! I gotta go. Save me some okay?" Ichigo asked, running to collect his things.

"Don't worry about it." Orihime said. watching him hurry off.

(..)

Ichigo ran into the emergency room and ran to the gurney. "What do we have?" He asked the nurse in charge.

"Car accident. Female: early 20's. From what I can observe, she possibly broke a couple ribs and they pierced her lung. She's been coughing blood." The nurse spoke levelly.

"Get her into the operating room stat." Ichigo ordered and they prepped the woman for surgery.

Ichigo quickly changed into scrubs and with his gloved hands, picked up the scalpel and went to pierce into the woman's flesh, but her hand reached out and grabbed his wrist, whispering: " _Intorqueo diligo in contemno_!" **Turn the love into hate.** Ichigo understood what she said, he took Latin and Greek for 3 years before he became a Doctor. She smiled menacingly and her eyes flashed red. "Have fun." She spoke as if she was perfectly healthy and her palm pressed to Ichigo's forehead, a searing, white hot pain blistered through his skull and he fell unconscious, the chant reverberating in his ears.

 _Turn the love into hate. ._

 _Intorqueo diligo in contemno. ._

* * *

 _ **Hey guys!**_

 _ **RIKOREN here.**_

 _ **I was having a serious case of writers block with the last instalment of Missing Heart, it was too vague and I hadn't really thought that through. But I hope you enjoy this one a lot more. I've put a lot of effort into planning this and it revolves around Orihime and her fears, so that isn't going anywhere, and all characters have their segments, even the kids. So I hope you enjoy this chapter. Stay tuned :)**_

 _ **Review/Follow/Favourite**_

 _ **Arigatou Gozaimasu!**_

 _ **RIKOREN**_ _ **xD**_


	2. Chapter 1

_**A/N:** If you don't like the pairings or the plot, then don't bloody read. Constructive criticism is always welcome. By all means, leave flames. It will give me incentive to write even more :D and as always, leave wonderful comments, like you all do :) _

**_DISCLAIMER:_** _All is owned by Kubo-sensei. All I own is this plot, my characters and that's all._

 _ **WORD COUNT: 1,887**_

 _ **PAIRINGS:**_ _Ichigo/Orihime. Rukia/Renji. Chad/OC. Uryu/OC. Byakuya/OC._

* * *

 _ **CHAPTER 1:**_

 ** _The First to Change._**

* * *

Ichigo awoke to a soft yellowish light. _'I'm not in the hospital anymore.'_ He thought, deducing his surroundings. _'I'm home. Who brought me home?'_ He got an unwelcome feeling of dislike toward the next thought. _'Orihime. . .why am I so bothered that my wife came and took me home?'_ Ichigo sat up and rubbed the back of his head. When he pulled his hand away, he felt a slight burning sensation on his left pectoral, right where his heart was. He pulled his shirt down and there, was a broken crucifix. It looked like it was burnt in. It was painful. He heard footsteps and he quickly righted his shirt before Orihime poked her head in, worry etched into her face.

"Hey, honey. How are you feeling?" Orihime asked in her soft voice. For the first time ever, Ichigo found himself thinking that she was incredibly annoying.

"Yeah. Fine. What do you want, Orihime?" Ichigo asked rudely, looking at his wife with cold, hard eyes. Inside he was confused and horrified at his reaction, but he couldn't help but think that it was justified.

"Uh, I was just worried about you. I'm allowed to worry." Orihime started to straighten, not taking Ichigo's unwarranted behaviour sitting down and she struck back. "Why are you so moody, Ichigo?"

"I don't know, maybe it's because you walked into the room." Ichigo snarled. As he spat the words, his sense came back and he realized what he said. He looked at Orihime's face and his heart broke at the pain and shock that was evident on her face. "Wait. . Orihime. . I didn't mean. . ."

"You did. You meant it. You wouldn't have had that look in your eyes if you didn't." Orihime said and went to move away.

Ichigo started to rile again and this time, he welcomed it. "Oh I meant it. What are you going to do about it? Cry? Is that what the cowardly little bitch is going to do? Run away again for 10 years? Come back with no heart?" Ichigo snarled.

Orihime's precious control snapped. "You're a forty-year-old man with four children! We've been together for 15 years and now you want to do this?" Orihime yelled, making Ichigo angrier.

"Oh yeah, this has been brewing far too long. All these years. . ."

(..)

Masaki, Sora, Naoki and Taiki all looked toward the stairs, listening to their parents scream at each other. They had never had a fight this bad before. If they did have a fight, they would talk it out and find the root of the problem. It was something they had done since the return of Aizen. Sora started to walk determinedly up the stairs, Masaki and the Twins following him. They were going to stop their parents bickering.

Using his power, Sora burst through the door and let a strong triangle shield burst between his mother and father. Both looked at him shocked. Normally, Sora was the peacekeeper among his siblings, saving them from the consequences of their bad choices, and now he was the peacekeeper among his parents. _"STOP IT!"_ Sora screamed, his gray eyes burning with anger, again, shocking his family. Sora hardly ever raised his voice. "Why are you fighting over nothing? You two are supposed to love each other and be happy! Like you have all these years! You tell us every night that you would never fight so bad because the sadness reminded you of the dev-a-station that the Evil Man brought to you!" The 10-year-old eyes glittered with unshed tears.

"Sora, go back downstairs. Take your brothers and your sister with you!" Ichigo ordered rudely, not having time for his son's antics again. He needed to settle a score to Orihime. He wasn't going to be deterred.

"Don't you dare speak that way to my child!" Orihime snarled.

"Your child? Didn't I have some involvement?" Ichigo asked, angrily.

"Right now, I don't think you should have any involvement ever again!" Orihime roared, her Spiritual Pressure flinging in all directions.

"You have no right to tell me if I should or should not be a part of my children's life." Ichigo snarled, his anger palpable in the air.

Orihime had no idea where this was coming from and right now, she had no intention of finding out. All she wanted was for him to wake up and smell the damn coffee. They had four beautiful children, not one of them caused them any grief or regret. She loved them all. For them to be dragged into this was bad enough. She could see the shock and terror on their faces. Naoki and Taiki holding each other, shaking as they looked at their parents with big honey brown eyes, Masaki looking at her mother with a determined look, she knew her father was in the wrong. Sora looked as if he was about to bawl like a baby, always being the more sensitive child. He looked at both of his parents with a sorrow that Orihime never knew the depths of in a child.

Orihime knew what she had to do.

Orihime gave one last burning look to Ichigo and walked to her children, cuddling Naoki and Taiki first, reassuring them that it would be fine. She then proceeded onto Sora, who despite his wet face and sniffles, was holding his own. She kissed the top of his head gently and she felt him take a deep, shuddering breath and he slowly calmed himself in her arms. Then Orihime turned to her eldest child. Her beautiful and only daughter. She had no tears and she wasn't shaking but a mother knows best. She could see the internal struggle warring within her child and she hated it. Taking Masaki's youthful face into her gentle hands, Orihime leant down and pressed a soft kiss to her daughter's forehead and Masaki broke down. Gripping onto her mother just like Naoki and Taiki, craving her mother's warmth and compassion.

"Please don't leave us alone. Please, Mama!" Orihime's eyes widened as she listened to Masaki's plea. Her eldest was so intelligent and so advanced in her observational skills. She knew Orihime was going to leave Ichigo for a little while. "Please, don't go. Just stay, Dad will come around. Don't leave us. Because if you do. . .I. . I will never speak to you again!" Masaki threatened, knowing she could never follow up on that promise but she furthered her case, "and I won't let Sora, Naoki and Taiki talk to you either!" This caused in an uproar with her three younger children.

Orihime raised her hand gently, palm forward, a gesture to stop. She combined it with a calm, knowing look and her three children quietened down. "Masaki, dear. Look at me." Orihime slid her fingertips underneath her daughter's chin and watery brown eyes met kind gray. "I'm not leaving forever. It's just until this thing blows over and your father and I cool our heads before speaking again. I'm not going to give up on any of you, my beautiful darlings." Orihime hugged her children tightly, ignoring Ichigo's scoff.

She would sacrifice her heart for her family.

(..)

Masaki looked up at the sky, standing on the roof of Karakura High, the school where her parents and their best friends started their journey.

Her friends stared at the Kurosaki with large eyes, Ken Abarai, 15 with shaggy black hair and vivid violet eyes, the male version of his mother, yet he was taller than his father, with a Chappy fixation. Ginrei Kuchiki, 15, a spitting image of his father with the same cool demeanor, with his mother's temperament. Yasu Ishida, 15, son of Uryu and Naomi, an Australian-born woman, he had shoulder length blonde hair like his mother and piercing blue eyes, calculating and assessing, like his father. He was every bit Quincy proud, like his father, and last but not least, Carmella Sado: 15, she had long wavy black hair, down to her waist, a curvy body and dark Hispanic features, caramel brown eyes like her father, but she was oddly petite, considering both her parents height. Maria Esperance, Carmella's mother was Spiritually aware, but had no powers to speak of, as Naomi Wood-now Ishida is the same.

Ken sighed and looked at his life-long friend. "We all know Uncle Ichigo adores Aunt Orihime. But what I don't get is why the sudden act of hostility?"

"I agree, it does seem rather odd that Uncle Ichigo would just start yelling at Aunt Orihime for no reason. Sorry to say, 'Aki, but he's in the wrong." Ginrei said, looking into Masaki's gentle brown eyes, his gray eyes soft and sympathetic.

"Yeah I know. I tried to speak to him about it, but he just refuses to even speak of her. I'm not allowed to speak her name. He tried to get rid of all the photos. I caught him and Sora took them to Aunt Rukia, where Mum is staying now. He took everything of hers and gave it to her. There's nothing of Mum's in the house and the worst part is, Dad seems as if there's nothing wrong. Almost as if Mum never even existed. It scares me." Masaki revealed. She didn't expect them all to stand and bring her with them.

"We're going to your Dad. Now. We're going to sort this out. Ken, you go with Yasu and go home to make sure Aunt Orihime is alright. Meanwhile, Masaki, Carmella and I are going to Uncle Ichigo and we're going to set him straight." Ginrei ordered. Ken nodded, grabbed Yasu by the arm and dragged him away from the school building, while Ginrei held Masaki and Carmella close and Flash-Stepped to the Kurosaki household.

Ichigo had just walked out of the front door with the trash bag in his hand when he saw Masaki, Ginrei and Carmella in front of his house. "Kids. . shouldn't you guys be in school?"

"Hello, Uncle Ichigo. May we have a word?" Ginrei asked politely, but his tone was cold, icy even.

"About?" Ichigo asked warily, not liking the solemn looks on their faces, nor the nature of this conversation.

"Aunt Orihime, and why you're treating her like garbage after everything she's done for you." Carmella butted in, having her mother's sass and her temper, but her voice was soft, expressing no emotion.

"We need to know what happened." Masaki pleaded with her father, tears in her eyes.


	3. Chapter 2

_**A/N:** If you don't like the pairings or the plot, then don't bloody read. Constructive criticism is always welcome. By all means, leave flames. It will give me incentive to write even more :D and as always, leave wonderful comments, like you all do :) _

**_DISCLAIMER:_** _All is owned by Kubo-sensei. All I own is this plot, my characters and that's all._

 _ **WORD COUNT: 893**_

 _ **PAIRINGS:**_ _Ichigo/Orihime. Rukia/Renji. Chad/OC. Uryu/OC. Byakuya/OC._

* * *

 _ **CHAPTER 2:**_

 _ **Outbreak.**_

* * *

Ichigo sighed and looked at the young teens before him. "Listen, kids, this isn't between you two-"

"You drove my mother away! She's living with Aunt Rukia right now! If I even mention her, you get angry. You forbade my brothers and I from seeing her! You almost threw out everything that reminded you of her-" Masaki was cut off.

"Masaki! That's enough!" Ichigo roared at his eldest child. "You will not speak to me like that! I am your father, what my choices are, are my own and every decision I make will not be screened by you."

"I will question your decisions if it involves my brothers and my free will being taken away. I _will_ see Mum! I don't care what you say!" Masaki yelled back and Carmella and Ginrei touched her shoulders, willing her to calm down.

Ichigo stared at her, her deep brown eyes wide with tears, looking so much like Orihime and it further angered him, but he tried to calm himself down, reminding himself that this was his daughter. Not his wife. Masaki stared at her father, before seeing on his left breast a burn, her eyes widened and she leaned forward and touched it and her entire body seized and she screamed in pain. Ichigo grabbed at his daughter, worried.

Masaki stared horrified, to an outsider, it would look like she was blind, her eyes wandering wildly, looking at something that wasn't there, but internally, she was looking at every memory that involved some kind of connection to her mother.

Rukia and Renji.

Byakuya and Yuki.

Uryu and Naomi.

Chad and Maria.

Each of the four couple's children and her own brothers. Her eyes became red and she roared in pain as the red from her eyes shot out and hit Ginrei and Carmella. Who knows where else it had hit?

(..)

Rukia was making lunch for her second son Makoto, 10, who looked just like Renji, with his bright red hair and deep brown eyes, and her sweet little girl, who, had her black hair and Renji's brown eyes was still a toddler, Takara, when they were all hit with the Mark. Renji was casing the perimeter with Orihime when he too was hit with the mark.

"Renji! Are you alright?" Orihime asked, running over to him to heal him, only to be stopped by his sword being pointed to her.

"Get out of my face, Inoue. I don't want to see you again, not near my children or anyone else. You got that?" Renji snarled.

"R-Renji, w-what-" Orihime was stopped short when she saw he was performing a Hado spell and she quickly leaped out of the way before it discharged.

Not wanting to antagonize Renji even further. She ran.

(..)

Yuki and Byakuya were in their home, dwelling in the World of The Living for a short time, spending six months there and six months in the Soul Society when they were both hit with the same Mark. Katsuro, their son, age 10, was also hit with the Mark at school, when he was with Sora and ran out of class to go to his parents.

(..)

Uryu and Naomi were at home with their children, Yasu had paused in his approach to Ken's house and looked at his reluctant friend. "Why are we going to _her_ for?"

"I don't know. But since we're here, may as well check up on my brother and sister. I guess I'll see you tomorrow and we can ask Masaki why the hell she wants us to check on her stupid Mum for."

Yasu took off and approached his parents, who had been hit with the Mark and saw little Kaitlyn, his sister who was five and a spitting image of her father.

None of the Ishida family spoke of Orihime and the photos that they had, were smashed and ruined.

(..)

Chad and Maria were taking a walk in the park when they were hit and they looked at each other, not wanting to think about the auburn haired woman and they quickly went home and ruined anything that reminded them of Orihime Inoue.

(..)

Sora ran out of his house, with his father calling for him, every time he asked about his Mum, his sister, father and two little brothers all didn't want to even talk about her. Makoto had given Sora all the pictures that Masaki had stored at their house, claiming that they wanted nothing to do with her. So he grabbed a small bag of his things, grabbed the box of the photos and ran, sensing his mother's Spiritual Pressure as he did so.

When he came by his mother's old apartment, he could feel her Spiritual Pressure and he barged through the door. "Mummy!"


	4. Chapter 3

_**A/N:** If you don't like the pairings or the plot, then don't bloody read. Constructive criticism is always welcome. By all means, leave flames. It will give me incentive to write even more :D and as always, leave wonderful comments, like you all do :) _

**_DISCLAIMER:_** _All is owned by Kubo-sensei. All I own is this plot, my characters and that's all._

 _ **WORD COUNT: 1, 280  
**_

 _ **PAIRINGS:**_ _Ichigo/Orihime. Rukia/Renji. Chad/OC. Uryu/OC. Byakuya/OC._

* * *

 _ **CHAPTER 3:  
**_

 _ **The Only Person I Can Trust?!**_

* * *

Orihime ran down the hall to see her son looking up at her with sad eyes. "Sora. . . what are you doing here?" Orihime tensed slightly, not knowing what the outcome of this meeting would be. She couldn't underestimate her son. He was still wearing his uniform, albeit it was rumpled and his hair stuck up in every direction.

"Mama. ." Sora sniffled and fell to his knees, crying. "Why does nobody love you?!" Orihime's eyes widened as she stared at her boy. "Dad, Masaki, Naoki, Taiki! Auntie Rukia, Uncle Renji, Uncle Byakuya, Auntie Yuki, Auntie Naomi, Uncle Uryu, Auntie Maria and Uncle Chad! And all of my cousins! I've gone to every one of them, and none of them want to speak about you! Why, Mum?! Why do none of them love you as much as I do? What's happened?! TELL ME!" Sora yelled, his little hands clenched into fists as his face expressed his inner turmoil.

"Sora. ." Orihime whispered, running to her little boy and gathering him in her loving embrace. "Please, calm down, sweetheart. Deep breaths."

"But, Mum, what's going on?!"

"I don't know, honey, That's why I'm trying to figure out everything that's happening. Why they would suddenly turn on me. I'm surprised it didn't happen to you."

"Masaki told me. She told me that something happened in your family. A long long time ago. With some weird lady. Mum, that sounds like a clue."

"It does. Now, Sora, I want you to go home, back to your father and siblings." Orihime ordered, kneeling to come to eye level with her eldest son.

"What? No! I'm staying with you, Mum! I'm going to protect you!" Sora said, looking up at his mother with that same determined look that her husband showed every time he was challenged in a battle. In a sense, this was a battle. And she was up against the only people she could never hurt, and her enemy somehow knew that.

"I will not risk you getting hurt. Obviously, the enemy doesn't know that you aren't affected, but I won't have it knowing. So you go home. Do you understand me, Sora Kurosaki? I will _not_ have you hurt, because of me. I won't ever forgive myself if I'm the cause of my children's suffering. I'm going to the Soul Society, to find more about this. So, go back to your father, and stay there. I love you, sweetheart." Orihime kissed Sora's forehead, but not before she felt the familiar Spiritual Pressures of all of her husband and friends just outside of her old apartment complex. Sora clinged to his mother, feeling smothered by the joint powers being released all around them. Orihime shielded him and ran outside.

"Enough! Stop it! You're hurting him!" Orihime screamed, glaring at each of her friends and then turning her glare to Ichigo. "You're hurting Sora! Pull back your Spirit Energy." They obeyed her command and pulled back, letting Sora breathe properly.

"Give me my son, Orihime, and I'll spare your life." Ichigo threatened, dropping down to the road to face his wife.

"You don't scare me, Ichigo." Orihime countered.

"I did once."

"No, you never did." Orihime revealed, looking up into his slightly widened eyes, "I was scared of the memory of my brother as Acidwire. I projected my fear of him, onto your Hollow mask in the battle with Grimmjow. I was never afraid of _you_. You should pay attention." Orihime carefully examined the appearance of each of her power-wielding friends, noticing that they all showed a similar marking on their left pectoral/breast. Orihime mentally filed it away for reference later and knelt down to her son. "Put up your shield. You'll know when to. I love you, sweetie." Orihime pressed a gentle kiss to Sora's forehead and watched as he retreated to his father, who hugged him tightly, ruffling his dark hair, before turning to Orihime with a look of hate.

"You're not to come near my children again. They want nothing to do with you, and _they_ want nothing to do with you." He gestured to their friends who watched her with the same look. " _I_ want nothing to do with you." Ichigo snarled. Orihime's heart broke again and again until she could feel it slowly disappearing and she looked at Ichigo, putting up the front that she hadn't used in 25 years.

"Is that so?" Orihime asked, looking into Ichigo's eyes with such ferocity and ice that Ichigo took a cautious step back, for one instant she glanced at Sora and winked. He nodded in understanding and put up his shield to protect himself. With that to ease her worry, Orihime let go of all of her Spiritual Pressure and dropped several of her high level friends to their _knees._ "Don't tell me what to do." Ichigo grunted and steadied himself on his sword, a slight sheen of sweat glistening on his forehead as he stared into her eyes which slowly became a bright, glowing gold as her Spirit Energy started to outline the strength of her emotions. "Shuno, Ayame, Baigon, Hinagiku, Lily, Tsubaki!" Orihime called out and her manifested powers took form in front of her, all with the same solemn look. Orihime closed her eyes and started to recite; "The gentle lift of the breeze, the rumble of the Earth, the burn of fire, the scent of Spring, the touch of love and the gaze of night! Reject and become the space! Swirl and Turn. Circle the void between worlds," Orihime looked into the shocked eyes of her friends and family, "BREAK THE BARRIER AND CREATE THE PATH! SIX PRINCESS SHIELDING FLOWERS," Orihime screamed to the Heavens. Her powers becoming stronger and the manifested forms of her Shun Shun Rikka began to glow as they circled her and dissolved into her body and her feet lifted of the ground as her hair slowly lifted and whipped around her. The voices of each of her forms, including Orihime's rang, " ** _I REJECT!"_**

There was a sudden rush of limitless power, pushing them all to the ground, Ichigo looked upon his wife, to see that the wind had engulfed her form and when it disappeared, she was gone, as was every trace of her Spirit Energy. All of them stared, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Orihime had simply vanished from their sight. The shield that Sora had manifested, broke and he ran to his Dad, pulling on his sleeve. "Where did she go?" Sora asked, hoping that they didn't have a clue where she was.

"I don't know, Sora. But wherever she is, I hope she doesn't come back." Ichigo spat, lifting Sora in his arms and with a wave to his friends, they all disappeared.

But there was all the one question that angered them all with the person associated and the unnecessary worry it brought on each of them, _'where did you go, Orihime?'_


End file.
